Beginning Anew
by Harmony is Law. OBEY
Summary: A Soul Bond, Time Travel, Weasley Bashing, Manip. Dumbledore story. You know, the usual. Hope you enjoy! Given to TreeofKnowledge, under the name: One Last Chance.
1. Death

_Well I've never been talented with AN's so.... On with the disclaimer!_

**DISCLAIMER:** Do I look like J.K. Rowling?

Confusion was all around, it seemed like a flurry of multi-colored beams and shouting. Ironically, no one noticed the person the Death Eaters were aiming to kill slip through the melee and rush to a certain brown, bushy haired girl.

"Hermione!" The raven-haired wizard shouted. She turned around just in time to see him narrowly miss a purple streak of light.

"Harry! Be careful!" She was fraught with worry. He made his over and firmly grasped her hand.

"Just in case I don't make it through, I don't want to have any regrets." She started say something but he cut her off. "I love you, Hermione." Tears seemed to well up in her eyes.

"I love you too. Harry." They leaned in, lips inches apart.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" A purple beam slit both their necks, blood immediately beginning to pump out. Still holding hands, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, fell dead to the world.


	2. The Office

I'm back! With another chappie of Beginning Anew. Let's get this party started! (After I get the 

cheese dip though)

They landed in a room that's walls were painted black. The black paint seemed to radiate light, this was the only source of illumination. It seemed like a regular muggle reception office, even with a magazine table. Except on the magazine table, instead of different kinds of magazines, there were only red magazines that had the word TIMES in black written on it. Having gotten out of their post-death stupor they began to notice the surroundings. Harry spoke up first. "Where are we?"

The receptionist seemed to finally take notice of the new arrivals. She sighed and said in a flat voice, "Welcome to Death, please state your name and you will be called to a Death Angel shortly."

Stunned by her statement they answered. "Harry James Potter"

"Hermione Jane Granger" Almost instantly cards appeared in their hands. They both read: Alex Gray 3:00 PM.

"But how can we both be at 3:00?" Hermione seemed confused.

"They probably want us to go in together." Harry seemed just as confused as Hermione. When they looked up, the receptionist had already returned to whatever she had been doing.

"So, did you really mean it when you said you loved me?" She was doubtful that Harry could love her. She was buck-toothed and had bushy hair.

"Hermione I can't even begin to tell you how much I love you." He leaned in and kissed her. It was passionate and exactly like you would imagine a first kiss. 

"How come you never told me?" She was still dazed from that kiss.

"I had thought that you loved Ron, I know for sure that he loved you." He seemed to pause for a moment and think. "If I had told you he would have probably turned into a jealous prat like in fourth year."

"How could I love an insensitive git like him?" She shuddered, the thought was disgusting.

"Well you were basically dating." If she had coffee she would have spit it out.

"In fairness, I thought you loved Ginny." She stopped and seemed to gaze off into the distance. "You seemed to fall in love and get over her again and again and again." She jerked back to the present. "I wonder.…"

The receptionist called. "It's time. Go in that door and proceed to room 10D" They slowly got up and headed to room 10D.

It was a plain office. It was exactly like you would imagine a normal cubicle.

There was a man with piercing blue eyes sitting behind a desk. "Hello, Harry and Hermione."

"I'm Alex Gray, Death Angel." Having already been shocked many times already they were only mildly surprised. "Sit, sit." They took a seat in the chairs in front of the desk.

"Why are we here?" Harry wanted answers, he was tired of being kept in the dark.

"Well, in short, you died and we have to sort things out."

Hermione was unsatisfied by his answer. "What kind of 'things', are we talking about here?"

Alex sighed, "The usual: Soul Bonds, premature death, love potions, horcruxes, manipulation, prophecies, that kind of stuff." Alex looked down at the folder sitting on his desk. "In your case it's all of them." They were stunned speechless. All of those he had just said had happened to them? The wizard seemed furious. How could Dumbledore allow this?

"Can you list what happened and by whom?" Hermione seemed just as angry as Harry and a tad curious.

"Well there was the prophecy by Sybil Trelawney which you all know."

Hermione cut in, "I don't know the exact wording, though."

Alex flipped through the pages of the folder. "Here it is." He paused to clear his throat. _"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.…"_ Hermione seemed shocked and she said nothing for a moment. She started to sob uncontrollably and cried into Harry's shoulder.

"Why does this always happen to us?" The Death Angel gazed sympathetically at the couple. He had seen far too many people like this.

"Next, is manipulation by Albus Dumbledore. You were under no circumstances to go to Petunia and Vernon Dursley. Your parents' will clearly stated that you were to go to either: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin or the Longbottoms. Yet Dumbledore, using his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot assumed position as your magical guardian and placed you with the Dursleys."

"That evil old git!" Their eyes were filled with fury. A fire blazing inside them. Alex grinned mischievously.

"Also, he bound both your magical cores." He sat, waiting for the obvious explosion from the already mad witch.

"WHAT DID THAT BASTARD DO?" Harry and Alex both winced mentally. "How dare he bind our cores! That's illegal!"

"What does a core binding do?"

Alex sighed once again. He thought: _"Poor kid, kept in the dark all these years. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the creator decides to do." _He spoke, "A core binding restricts a witch or wizard's magical ability. It hinders the growth of their magical core. Unfortunately for you, Harry, he bound your core immediately after your birth. Had he not, you would have been just as adept at magic as Hermione. He also bound your magic, Hermione, after your first year. He thought you might surpass him and help Harry overcome his manipulations." Harry gasped now. "He also began stealing small amounts of money from your vault to fund the Weasley children's education."

Both Harry and Hermione seemed deep in thought. "Why did he give money to the Weasleys?"

"Well," Alex seemed uneasy for a moment. "He needed Ginny for his grand scheme." They both quirked their eyebrows and seemed to have a face that said _'Well?'_.

Alex's face showed dawning realization. "Oh, you want to know his grand scheme." He thought for a few seconds and said, "He knew that Harry had a horcrux inside him so he thought that the only way to defeat Voldemort was to have Harry die in a duel. Also he wanted the glory of defeating Voldemort himself. He knew that the only way that Harry would lose in a duel would be if he was heartbroken. So he would have Ginny break up with Harry right before the battle." Then what Alex had said fully sunk into Hermione's brain.

"WHAT? WHAT DID THAT GAY STUPID EXCUSE OF A HEADMASTER TRY TO DO? I'LL KILL THE OLD MAN AGAIN!" Harry immediately started to rub her arm and try to calm her. "HOW CAN YOU NOT BE ANGRY AT THE GIT? HE TRIED TO KILL YOU! HIS SOUL SHOULD.…" Harry cut her off mid-sentence with a fiery kiss. Hermione fought at first but soon relaxed into it. Harry pulled her into his lap and began rubbing circles on her back. Alex just sat there watching bemusedly. After another 30 seconds they pulled away panting.

"Now are you angry at Dumbledore?" Harry sat smirking waiting for her answer. Hermione sat blinking away the haze.

She answered although she slurred slightly, "Who? The beardy man? He's mean."

Alex chuckled and said, "You really know how to calm a woman down Harry. We could use you sometimes. Some women really freak out when they hear they're dead."

"No thanks, Hermione's much more than I could ever ask for."

"Yeah, about that we really should move on to the next part of our discussion."

Hermione, finally out of her stupor asked, "What would that be?"

He just grinned knowing this would probably cause the young witch to faint. "Your Soul Bond." He was right.

The world faded back into view for Hermione. Harry was hovering nervously over her head. He noticed that Hermione was beginning to stir and shook her shoulders. "Hermione! Wake up!" She moaned and turned.

"What is it Harry?" He just shook her shoulders even more. "Okay, I'm up, I'm up."

She began to look around. "Where are we?"

"Well, we were just beginning to talk about our soul bond.

"Our soul bond?" Harry started to worry about her passing out again.

"Yup."

"Well, I guess we can't avoid this. It's not that I don't love you Harry, I guess it's been a busy day."

"Well, I love drama but they don't pay me to watch it. So on to the exciting topic of Soul Bonds. Soul Bonds are basically like a match made in heaven. Except that they're made by the creator who you'll meet later for final judgment. The creator decides every few centuries who to bestow upon a soul bond. People who are soul bonded have a lot of perks. There's immunity to love potions, Occlumency, Legillimency and, Wandless and Silent Magic. Usually Soul bonded couples are heirs of important people. In your case, you Harry are heir of Gryffindor and Slytherin while Hermione you are heir of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

"But how can that be? I'm a Muggleborn, I can't possibly be an heir to anyone can I?"

"The magic in the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff lines went dormant until the right time to reactivate. Anyways, a soul bond activates with a kiss. Unfortunately you never kissed, so the soul bond has not been activated. The activation of Soul Bonds destroy horcruxes so if you had kissed it would have destroyed the horcrux in Harry. It doesn't work if you're touching a horcrux it only works if the person has a horcrux inside of them. You know, you were supposed to live to be about 150 years old which complicates the creator's decision. He might send you back in time."

"Back in time? Is that even possible?" Hermione was doubtful that a person could turn back time.

"He's the creator of the universe, he can do whatever he wants." Alex wasn't surprised. He had expected Hermione to be doubtful of the creator's ability. "Well, our time is up. If you do go back in time I'll be visiting you periodically." They were ushered out of the office and told to go down the hall to the last door. "Good luck!"

It was a bright chamber with a throne. Before it was a mahogany desk and chairs. On the throne sat a man with golden eyes and brown hair. "Hello Harry, Hermione. I haven't seen you since I created your soul bond. Call me Aaron. You are here for final judgment are you not?" They both nodded, in awe of the room. The walls, like the reception room, seemed to glow, except that this was a golden glow. It seemed to lift your spirits and make you happy. "Well, on with judgment. I have studied your files and have concluded that you were treated wrongly too many times to pass on. You will be sent back to, July 1, 1991, 30 days before Harry's eleventh birthday retaining your current memories. You will have one chance to change things for the better. If you die you will immediately be sent to the gates of heaven. Do you agree to those terms?" Harry and Hermione seemed to ponder this for a moment.

They both said, "Sure."

"Very well." He conjured a piece of parchment. "Just sign on this parchment." They both signed their names in long flowing script. The parchment began to shine white and it suddenly disappeared with a flash of light. "Just exit those doors and you will be transported to where you were when you awoke on July 1." They got out of their chairs and turned towards the doors.

"See you soon Harry." Hermione seemed sad that they would be separated for so long.

"Can we agree to meet on July 15 at 3:00 at Flourish and Blotts?" Slightly happier that they wouldn't be separated that long she nodded. They exited the doors and with a flash of light, they were gone.

Aaron muttered, "I never was a fan of teenage drama."


	3. Due to personal reasons

_Due to a long hiatus and a change in writing style, I'm revamping this story and moving to this account: TreeofReading at .net/~TreeofReading. (still the same person) Hope to see your review soon!_


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